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Kyle Morrand is Making Everyday Life a Playful Experience
Kyle Morrand is a Florida native and entrepreneur with a vision of making mundane things in life “playful.” He attended the University of Central Florida where he was able to dive deeper into the world of technology and simulation, leading him to create his company, 302 Interactive.
Growing up with his mother pursuing a career in technology, Kyle was constantly surrounded by it and was curious how he could use it in his own life. As he got older, he realized he wanted to turn his intrigue for tech and love for people into a business.
302 Interactive focuses on “turning everyday life into a playful experience.” His mission is to reconnect consumers with why they started doing what they are doing through gaming.
Kyle has a passion for creativity and ensuring people love what they are doing. Through his business, he finds unique ways to lead his consumers to their “play” or whatever makes them happy.
302 Interactive CEO, Kyle Morrand, meets with The Orlando Life on the backyard patio of The Monroe in Orlando's Creative Village
Journey to 302 Interactive
Being passionate about drumline and music, Kyle always found himself to be creative. Once he got to college, he said he wanted to find a career and had to “put the drumsticks down” to do so. After taking his first coding class, he was in love. Having the ability to communicate with others via computers lit him up.
To find a more visual and fun outlet, he noted how the video games in the university library worked. When he was 19, he moved into apartment 302, where he met his roommates who showed him a new world of gaming. They were fans of a variety of games including old-school and indie games, which was something Kyle was unfamiliar with.
After learning more about indie games, he found out most creators just did it as something for fun on the side while they worked a job they were not exactly passionate about. Kyle was struck by that discovery and wanted to find synergy between passion and work. He said he learns best from doing so, so decided to start his own company, 302 Interactive, inspired by his apartment number.
“Going through that, I was able to learn about different people's passions for this new technology,” Kyle said. “[I’ve been] working with game engines and then figuring out ways for them to connect the work that they loved to their play in the real world.”
Discovering “Play”
A few years ago, Kyle read a book called “Play” by Dr. Stewart Brown, who detailed how “the opposite of work is not playing and the opposite of play is not working, but the opposite of play is depression,” which resonated with him.
He said he was fascinated by why people play games and wanted to bring that into his business.
“For us as designers and for myself as a designer, creating a space for someone to play means you're creating a space for someone to not be depressed.” - Kyle Morrand
With the work he does with his company, he said he tries to redesign the workplace for those who may find it tiresome or draining. At his core, Kyle feels play is essential to keep up energy and morale, and he said he and his team keep one another accountable when it comes to feeling “playful.”
“I am designing, managing and operating a business to help my team play in what they do best and then help our clients and customers play and help them do what they do,” Kyle said. “Cause if you're playing, then you're helping our customers play and that's the connection that we want to get to.”
Pursuing a Passion of Your Own
After starting 302 in 2018, Kyle said by taking it slow and “tinkering” with things, he was able to build up a business for himself, and what he wanted, rather than just for money.
For those who are looking to create a business from their own interests, Kyle advises taking it slow and measuring progress to ensure you are going in the direction you would like. He said he especially likes to keep track of the culture of the company and the spreadsheets being kept.
Kyle said by looking at the continuous small wins throughout business it is “a good motivator to keep going.”
Defining the Orlando Life
Kyle defines the Orlando Life as a city of wellness, both on the individual level and the community level. He sees wellness as a priority in the home and the family. He also sees the focus on improving wellness in healthcare, education, simulation and government.
